“It Is Our Right”: Saudi Women on the Positives, Pitfalls of Municipal Elections

In “‘It Is Our Right’: Saudi Women Speak on the Positives, Pitfalls of Municipal Elections,” Americans for Democracy & Human Rights & Bahrain (ADHRB) reviews December’s elections in Saudi Arabia through the eyes of a group of politically-active Saudi women. Excerpting from in-depth interviews conducted in the month before the elections, the briefing paper explores the[…]

Mapping the Saudi State, Chapter 9: The National Human Rights Institutions

*Best viewed in full-screen mode. In Mapping the Saudi State, Chapter 9: The National Human Rights Institutions, ADHRB reviews the two permissible human rights organizations within Saudi Arabia: the government-run Human Rights Commission, and the government-influenced National Society for Human Rights (NSHR). In studying their work and advocacy, ADHRB recognizes their positive contributions to the[…]

Mapping the Saudi State, Chapter 7: The Destruction of Religious and Cultural Sites

*Best viewed in full-screen mode. In Mapping the Saudi State, Chapter 7: The Destruction of Religious and Cultural Sites, ADHRB studies the complicity of the Saudi Ministry for Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Da’wah, and Guidance in the destruction and defacement of religious and historical sites within the kingdom. ADHRB finds that the ministry has either ignored[…]

The Basis of Brutality: Torture in Saudi Arabia

17 September 2015 – Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) are pleased to announce the publishing of a new report entitled The Basis of Brutality, which examines the Saudi government’s adherence to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading[…]

Mapping the Saudi State Chapter 5: The National Guard

*Best viewed in full-screen mode. In Mapping the Saudi State, Chapter 5: The National Guard, ADHRB studies the light army that the Saudi government has organized to quell internal unrest and prevent coups d’état. Tracing its origins back to the radical Ikhwan fighters who helped solidify King Abdulaziz’s control of the Arabian Peninsula, the Saudi Arabian[…]